Brake mechanism



' H. E. BURTON BRAKE MEGHANISM Original Filed Dec. l2, 1951 :Qgl b21 78 Patented Oct. 1935 l l I UNITED STATES PATENT NOFFICE 2,015,741 BRAKE MECHANISM Harry E. Burton, Chicago, lll.; Elizabeth Burton, executrix of said Harry E. Burton, deceased, assignor to Bendix Products Corporation, South Bend, Ind., a corporation of Indiana Application December 12, 1931, Serial No. 580,546 Renewed September 1, 1934 7 Claims. (Cl. 1885-152) l 'I'his invention relatesto brake mechanism and Fig. 5 is a detail elevation of a front adjust-J particularly, though not exclusively, to mechament lever. l nism for automobiles having four-wheel brakes. The particular brake mechanism herein shown The primary object of the invention is to prois an. improvement over that shown in Patent 5 videanew and improved brake arrangement con- No. 1,811,172. issued June 23, 1931, and is parsisting of few and simple parts arranged acticularly adaptable for attachment to an auto-s cording to a predetermined embodiment so as to mobile. The ,automobile chassis herein shown render the brakes exceedingly etlicient with the for the purpose of illustrating one form of the utmost in ease of operation. invention, includes the usual front to rear side lo Another object is to provide brake mechanism bars or frame members I which support the lo which has the advantage of ease in operation, motor II and other mechanism associated there-x having the lightness of brake foot pedal operawith, indicated generally by the numeral i2, tion inherent to hydraulic brakes but without which drives the machine. A rear axle I3 and the complications and disadvantages `of hydraulic a front axle I4 are provided with rear wheels I5 l5 brakes, and still have the efficient positive charand front wheels I6 respectively being operative- 15 acteristics of mechanical brakes without the ly arranged and mounted in the usual manner. power or preure ordinarily required in me- 'I'he wheels I5 and I6 may beprovided with brake chanical brakes. drums and brak Il which are of the conven- A further object is to provide automobile brake tional type. The brakes may be either the inmechanism which has certain parts situated in terna] expansion or the external contraction type 20 particular positions relative to other parts to as preferred, the invention relating to the meehprovide light pedal pressure with positive and anism for operating the brakes and not the eiiicient braking action. brakes per se.

A still further object is to provide brake mech- A brake pedal I8 is operatively connected to a anism for automobiles which mechanism mainpart of the chassis and operates a master mechtains the etlcient and advantageous characteranism I9, of either the hydraulic or air pressure istics of both types of brak type. 'I'his master mechanism is operatively con- Still another object is to provide hydraulically nected to auxiliary plungers 20 through the mecontrolled mechanism for operating mechanicaldium of piping 2| in the usual conventional 1y operated brakes, the hydraulic mechanism bemanner. 30 ing so constructed and arranged that an even The auxiliary plungers 20, 2, are each positive braking action is provided, there `being mounted on a side bar I0 in any convenient manmeans for assuring evenness of brake action due ner such as by bolts 22 passing through an end to the double outlet of the uid lines which are iange 23,'Flg. 2. Each plunger 28 comprises a arranged to cause all slack to be taken up in a chamber or cylinder 24 in which there is mount- 35 loose cable before braking action is applied, ed a piston 25 having a connecting rod 26 which thereby providing evenness and equal braking extends through the end of the casing 2l. The action. end of the connecting rod 26 carries a bifurcated Numerous other objelcts and advantages wi11 member 28 to which bearings 29 may be fastened.

40 be apparent throughout the progress of the fol- A Pulley 3 is "ranged between the arms of the 4o lowing specification, bifurcated member 28 and is revolubly mounted The accompanying drawing-illustrates a seggagxisor shaft 3| which is Supported by the lcq embodlmefnfi of@ mventlon and the views Upper and lower plates or supports 32 and 33 elfem are as o .ows' respectively are xed to the side bar anges 34 4 Fg' 1 is a .dem 9.1 new .f an .uwmobue by means of bolts ss passing through the flanges chassis to which the Invention 1s applied' and tapped in the plates. 'Ihese plates extend Fig' 2 is a' detail sectional vew taken longtudi' inwar of the side bars a predetermined dis- Bally through an auxiliary plunger and Showing 4 tancedgid are provided with oppositely alined hydraulic means for Operating mechanica-1 bra-kesslots 36 into -which the ends of the pulley sup- 50 Fig. 3 1S o View Similar to Fig. 1 showing a porting shaft'll extends. Washers 31 surround modified wangemeni? ,0f bra-ke Operating memthe shaft 3| and engage the tops and bottoms of bers. the respective plates, the shaft being held from. Fig. 4 is a detail elevation, partly in section, vertical displacement by cotter pins 38. The ends showingapartofthestructure disclosedinFig. `3. 38 of the plates may be connected together by 55 v5, to which proper an arched connecting member 40 to prevent spreading of the plates. The plates act as a guide for the connecting rod 26 and keep the pulley in proper operable position at all times preventing any bending, swaying, or racking of the plunger rod 26 or any of its connecting parts. Regardless of any strain on the pulley, the pulley or piston is restricted to movement in two directions only, in and out. When pressure is applied to the foot pedal |8, the master mechanism I9 causes iiuid to 'pass to the auxiliary plungers 20 to move the pistons and consequently the rods 26 simultaneously.

Front to rear members 4| are connected to the brake arms 42 of a front and rear brake on the same side of the automobile. These members 4| may constitute rod members 43 and cable members 44 although these members may be made of a continuous piece or length of cable. Regardless of the manner in which the members 4| are made up, their central portion is of cable 44 which passes over the pulley 30 as designated at 45 in Fig. 2. The cable part 44 may have its ends connected to levers 46, Fig. l, to rock these levers,

the rocking movement of the levers causing responsive action of the brakes. The front levers 46 may be provided with a series of holes 41, Fig. connection is made to vary the braking action of the front brakes relative to the rear brakes. Guide pulleys 48, Fig. 1, may be arranged at proper positions to guide and support the cable 44.

The cable 44 may be connected to levers 49 mounted on the cross shafts 50 to rock these shafts, Figs. 3 and 4. Arms 5| may be carried at the ends of these shafts to move the brake arms 42 for operating the brakes. The front arms 5| may be constructed like the levers 46, having a series of holes provided therein for varying the pressure on the front brakes relative to the normal pressure on the rear brakes.

A feature of the invention resides in the positioning of the piping 2| relative to the master hydraulic member I9. The piping 2| is connected to a pair of outlets at one end, the compression end, of the reservoir. The fluid thus compressed by the master plunger will of course follow the line of least resistance. Thus, if one cable is relatively loose, and the other cable relatively taut, the compressed fluid will move the piston at the loose side out a sufficient distance until the cable operated by that piston has substantially the same bearing on the formerly loose cable as the piston operating on the taut cable. The fluid is thereby equally distributed so that pressure will be equalized on both cables, and consequently the braking action on each side will be exactly the same. It thereby follows that regardless whether one cable is loose and another taut, the bra 'ng action and pressure is positively equalized.

Operation the rods 26 to move inwardly out of the casing.

This movement causes a tension to be exerted on the cable 44 and rocks the levers, this rocking movement pulling the rods 43 causing braking action on the brake drums. Continued pressure causes greater braking action as more fluid is forced into the auxiliary plungers and consequently greater braking is obtained. As soon as the pedal is released, pressure will no longer be applied on the pistons 25 and the parts will return ingly simple parts to provide positive and eilicient 5 braking action; The parts may be installed easily at a very low cost and the parts may be economically manufactured. The mechanism responds to a light touch as is usual in complete hydraulic systems but contains the simple adjustment features and positive braking action of mechanical brakes. The invention preserves the salient features of both types of brakes and omits the disadvantages of both.

Changes may be made in the form, construction, and arrangement of the parts without departing from the spirit of the invention or sacrificing any of its advantages, and the right is hereby reserved to make all such changes as fairly fall within the scope of the following claims.

The invention is hereby claimed as follows:

1. In an automobile having a frame, Wheels for said automobile, a brake for each wheel, front to rear members connected to said brakes on each side, said front to rear members including a cable, a hydraulically controlled plunger connected to said frame on each side for operating said front to rear members, each plunger carrying a pulley engageable with said cable, means for operating the plungers, and means for guiding said plungers.

2. In an automobile having a frame, wheels for i said automobile, a brake for each wheel, front to rear members connected to said brakes on each side, said front to rear members including a cable, a hydraulically controlled plunger connected to said frame on each side foroperating said front to rear members, each plunger carrying a pulley engageable with said cable, means for operating the plungers, upper and lower plates fixed to the frame on each side, said plates being provided with slots therein, a shaft carried by said plunger and upon which said pulley is mounted, said shaft extending through the openings in the plates for guiding and supporting said pulley.

3. In an automobile having four wheel brakes, a front to rear member connecting the brakes on each side of the automobile and including a cable, hydraulically controlled mechanism for op- Verating each front to rear member, said hydraulically controlled mechanism comprising a plunger, a pulley revolubly supported by said plunger for operating said cable, and hydraulic meansfor operating said plunger.

4. In an automobile having four wheel brakes, a front to rear member connecting the brakes on each side of the automobile and including a cable, hydraulically controlled mechanism for operating each front to rear member, said hydraulically controlled mechanism comprising a plunger, a pulley revolubly supported by said plunger for operating said cabl ,hydraulic means for operating said plunger, plates connected to the automobile frame, and means engaging said plates for guiding the movement of the plunger.

5. In an automobile having four wheel brakes, a front to rear member connecting the brakes on each side of the Iautomobile and including a cable, hydraulically controlled mechanism for operating each front to rear member, said hydraulically controlled mechanism comprising a plunger, a U- shaped end for said plunger, upper and lower plates fixed to the automobile frame and having slots therein, a cross member extending through said slots and operatively engaging the end of the plunger and the cable for guiding the movement of the plunger, and means for operating the plunger.

6. In an automobile having four wheel brakes, a front to rear member connecting the brakes on each side of the automobile and including a cable, hydraulically controlled mechanism for operating each front to rear member. said hydraulically controlled mechanism comprising a plunger, a U- v shaped end' for said plunger, upper and lower plates fixed to the automobile frame and having slots therein, a cross member extending through said slots and operatively engaging 'the end of the plunger and the cable for guiding the movement of the plunger, means for operating the plunger, and means connected to the ends of said plates for holding the plates in proper spaced position.

7. In a vehicle having four wheel brakes, a pair 5 duits connecting said master cylinder and said 10 motors, and means responsive to actuation of said iluid motors for tensioning said cables.

HARRY E. BURTON. 

